Stockholm Syndrome
by TomOrli BloomingWell
Summary: Scorpius Malfoy tries to celebrate his birthday in peace until Rose Weasley decides to invite herself into the festivities. Written for the Reviews Lounge Birthdays Challenge.
1. An Empty Heart Plagued With Paranoia

**STOCKHOLM SYNDROME**

**A/N: Written for the Reviews Lounge 'Magic of Birthdays' Challenge.**

* * *

Chapter 1: An Empty Heart Plagued With Paranoia

It was nine o'clock when the first bell of the day rang to announce the commencement of the first classes of the day, the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry were all seated in the classrooms, their stomachs full from breakfast and their minds ready to tackle their studies. The Entrance Hall was empty and quiet with the exception of the clinking of gemstones in the large hourglasses as teachers began giving out house points to exceptional students or otherwise deducting them in the case of those not-so-exceptional ones. The soft sound of pitter-patter broke the silence; it came from the staircase leading down to the Dungeons and Slytherin common room. The noise grew in intensity until a teenage boy emerged from the archway, his blond hair dishevelled and his uniform in need of a good ironing, almost as if he had slept in them. He nearly drops his books as he skid on the grey flagstone floor whilst attempting to turn a quick left. He ran up the marble stone steps leading to the first floor. He turned into a corridor and ran as fast as he could to the end of it where the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom was. He stopped at the door, adjusting his robes and book bag which were practically falling off his shoulders. After slicking his hair back, he knocked and opened the door. The entire classroom turned to him, including the Grindylow swimming in the aquarium on the teacher's desk.

"How nice of you to join us Mister Malfoy… May I ask where you've been?"

Scorpius held the strap of his book bag tightly in anxiety; he opened his mouth but closed it when he found himself without any excuses. So he merely mumbled an almost incoherent "Sorry, professor."

"Hmm, very well, twenty points from Slytherin for being late and another five for disturbing my class. I would have expected more from you, Mister Malfoy. Sit down." The teacher continued talking about the Grindylow as Scorpius made his way to his desk; his fellow Slytherins shot him looks of disgust for causing them precious house points. Scorpius sat down and took out his textbook but chose to stare out the window instead of listen. He had always hated this time of year. Not because of the cold weather or the fact that he was back at school after the Christmas holidays, but simply because it was his birthday.

* * *

Ancient Runes went by in a blur. As it wasn't a class that required any wands, just quills, Scorpius didn't pay much attention and ended up doodling a birthday cake on the corner of his piece of parchment, only to scribble it out later on. The bell, which signalled the end of class, barely shook Scorpius from his daze. He was walking down the corridor when he felt a violent tug at his schoolbag, causing it to fall and flying several feet away from him, its contents scattered on the stone floor.

He turned around to find Marcus O'Malley and his gang of brutes laughing. As they vacated the hallway, disappearing into the flurry of students heading to the Great Hall for lunch, Scorpius slowly walked over to his books, his fists were clenched and his jaw held tight. He knelt down, some students tried to avoid him, others didn't care as much. One stepped on his Potions book. "Watch it!" Scorpius snapped, his head turning around to see to whom the shoes belonged.

"Some people can be so rude…"

Scorpius turned to find Rose Weasley smiling at him, knelt down on the floor, her kind brown eyes shining from the sunlight pouring through the windows and her curly red hair as bushy as ever. "Excuse me?" Scorpius said; his eyes fixated on her, like a deer that had just run in front of a speeding car, its headlights glaring. Another person stepped on another of his books, this time the shoe was larger.

Rose grabbed the book quickly and after clearing her throat she said, "Well yeah, I was standing just over there," she pointed to the wall, "and saw the whole thing…" She gathered some of the stray pieces of parchment into her hands, "I really didn't think that Marcus was capable of doing something like that, he never did seem the type."

Scorpius stood up and Rose followed, "Yeah well, I guess we belong to different circles." He couldn't help but roll his eyes.

Rose smiled and handed him his books, "Yeah…" A slightly awkward silence followed as Scorpius put the last remaining books in his bag and Rose tugged at the straps of hers. "So I'm heading over to the Hall for lunch; and I was thinking if you'd could to walk me there?"

"I'm actually not going there for lunch…"

"Really? You're not going to eat?"

"Erm, well… I usually go down to the kitchens and pick up something there. I much prefer eating in the courtyard by myself than eat in there and be scrutinized for actually _wanting_ to eat by myself," Scorpius said turning, deciding to leave the conversation at that as Rose was one of those who sat with those considered to be at the top of the social hierarchy in their year.

"Wait!" Rose skipped a few steps so that she was walking next to him, "Do you mind if I join you?"

Scorpius walked faster, "Don't you have friends to hang out with?"

She was slightly taken aback by his response to her question but continued to pursue nonetheless, "I don't want to hang out with them today."

Rolling his eyes once more, Scorpius said, "And why not? The whole lot of them practically idolize you because you're dating that loser O'Malley!"

Rose stopped walking, staring at Scorpius' back in disbelief. She watched as he reached the end of the corridor and took a left down to the entrance hall. She took one deep breath and ran after him, keeping an eye on his blond bobbing head, watching it disappear behind the Entrance Hall stairs and down the stairs leading to the Hufflepuff common room. She cocked an eyebrow, wondering just exactly what he was doing. She quickened her pace and ran down the steps, following the corridor that she was met with down there. She rounded a corner and saw Scorpius remove his hand from a painting, it swung open and he walked in. The sound of laughter echoed through the empty hallway. She tried to get there before it closed but she was too late, she was met with an assortment of fruits painted with such bright colours that it hurt her eyes in the dimly lit underground corridor.

She stopped and paced in a circle, figuring out what the password could be. She reached up and touched the painting, remembering Scorpius' movements. Her fingers were passing over the rough green of the pear when she remembered something her father had said a few years ago.

"_That mother of yours, Rose! She just loves to cause scenes at every restaurant we eat in! Although she has worked well and hard for house-elf rights, she couldn't possibly think that it would all just end!"_

"_Stop it, dad… I completely agree with her, it is so cruel the way those restaurant-owners treat them."_

"_Oh, Rose… I'm sorry for acting this way, it is your birthday after all. You know, I remember the first time your mother had started really talking about their rights. Yes, I was sitting in the common room when she throws this whole box full of hand-made _spew_ badges in front of me –"_

"_It's S.P.E.W., dad, Society for the Promotion of –"_

"_Elfish Welfare… You think I didn't already know that, Rosie? So she hands us these badges and insists that we pay two sickles to join. I was outraged! I tried to argue my way out of it but she wouldn't have it… She even ended up dragging Harry and I to the kitchens…"_

"_The kitchens? In Hogwarts? I thought you weren't allowed in there."_

"_Yeah well, you won't get caught. Those elves rush at the chance to give you something to eat. All you have to do is tickle the pear…"_

"_Elves?"_

She extended her forefinger and stroke the oil painting and was taken aback when the pear began to squirm in the painting, a chuckling sound followed and the painting swung open. Rose couldn't believe what she saw: A large room, very similar to that of the Great Hall, was bustling with activity. Towers of dishes rose up high towards the ceiling like skyscrapers, some shrinking and others growing. The dirty ones slowly shrunk in size while clean ones rose up like a tree that had been made to grow extremely fast. Some were even moving from one end of the room to another, being delivered to a cooking station, Rose got a glimpse of a small house-elf underneath one of them, carrying it.

The intense gush of smells hit Rose's face, almost making her sick from the sheer volume. She opened her eyes to find a large pair of blue ones staring directly at her. "Visitor!" it shouted. The roaring of the fire burning on the stove and the clanging and crashing of dishes and various pots, pans or metallic utensils silenced into an almost deafening silence. Scorpius Malfoy turned around, a female house-elf at his feet, handing him a meaty sandwich. "Weasley?"

The cooks returned to their chopping and frying and the ones at the sinks continued scrubbing the dishes. The blue-eyed elf that was looking at Rose approached her, "Would you like anything, miss?"

"Excuse me?"

"Would you like something to eat? Something to drink?"

"Oh no thank you… I'm fine," Rose smiled down at her. The small house-elf shrugged her shoulders and continued her way. Scorpius walked towards her, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"What are you doing here, Weasley?"

"I'd prefer if you'd just call me Rose, I find it extremely rude that you would call me by last name, especially since I've never done anything to upset you."

Scorpius looked around, avoiding Rose's fiery gaze. After a few moments, his grey eyes met hers, "Would you like something to eat?"

"What?"

"Food. Ever heard of it? They'll make you anything down here. All you have to do is ask."

Rose crossed her arms and shook her head, her gaze dropped to her shoes, "I don't believe in the exploitation of other magical creatures."

Scorpius couldn't help but smile at this; he took a few steps towards her, "Well good luck with that, considering how everything we do - from eating to having clean bedrooms or bathrooms - here is courtesy of this fine service." He stepped around her and continued out into the corridor.

"Aargh!" Rose grabbed a muffin from the cooking station next to her. "Do you mind if I have this?"

The house-elf at that station glanced over his shoulder and shook his head, "Help yourself, miss."

"Thank you!" Rose called as she ran out of the portrait hole. "Malfoy!" Rose shouted.

Scorpius, who was already at the foot of the staircase, turned around, "Back to last-name terms now, are we?"

"Can you stop doing that?"

"What?"

"Speaking like that, speaking in those awful short sentences and in that cynical and sardonic tone. It's so cold. I actually helped you pick up your books back there and thinking that I'd actually make a friend today," Rose paused for both a breath and for a response from Scorpius.

After a few moments, he spoke, "Do you mind if we could go upstairs? It really is very dark down here." He disappeared behind the corner of the wall. Rose ran after him, curly hair swaying, her book bag bumping against her side, muffin in hand. She followed him up the stairs and into the entrance hall, climbing up the entrance hall stairs and turning into the corridor. His blond head turned yet again into another corridor and another until it disappeared behind an archway leading to a courtyard. He sat on one of the stone benches and took another bite out of his sandwich. Rose sat next to him as he pulled a flask out of his bag and took a gulp from it. He offered some of it to Rose but she declined the offer.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, Scorpius wolfing down his sandwich and Rose picking at her blueberry muffin. Scorpius looked over, and noticed her lack of appetite, "What's wrong? Still sticking up for that House-Elf rights thing?"

"No," Rose said slowly, she sighed, "I just didn't realize that it was blueberry. I've never really cared much for blueberries."

"Oh. Well, you can have my chocolate-chip cookie if you want…"

Rose smiled, "Mine looks horrible. I've been nibbling and picking at it for the past ten minutes! No, I can wait until dinner."

Scorpius took another gulp from the flask, "Well, class doesn't start for another twenty minutes. If you want, I can take you there so you can get something to eat."

"Oh, I don't know…"

"Well, you're probably going to meet your friends over there anyway, right? I might as well walk you."

Rose's smile grew broader, "Yeah, okay, thanks."

Scorpius stood up, his hand extended, offering to help her up. She took it and they both headed over to the Great Hall, talking about the classes they were taking and what they were planning to do after they graduated. Rose grabbed a pie and a glass of water and brought it over to the Gryffindor table, which was her house, and sat across from Scorpius who was glancing around somewhat nervously, "What's wrong, Scorpius? You look agitated," Rose laughed. Scorpius gave her an awkward smile and continued to glance around. Rose furrowed her eyebrows, took a spoonful of the pie and popped it into her mouth. "Mmm…"

Scorpius raised an eyebrow at the bushy-haired girl sitting across from him, "I thought you were against the cruelty of house-elves."

Rose cleared her throat, "Well, my mum got me into it. She was a devoted fighter for their rights; she believed that they had to be treated like every other capable magical being."

"Hermione Granger?"

Rose was slightly taken aback by this, "Yes, how did you know?"

"Spew. I always found it a strange name for such an organization. Was it intended? Naming it something that sounds a lot like the word that means –"

Rose sighed, "Yes. I know. Thank you Scorpius, really, for allowing me a bit of insight into your wonderful thoughts."

Rose polished off the rest of her pie and suggested walking to their next class together. Scorpius nodded and the two made their way down to the greenhouses for Herbology. They were walking down the stone steps when Scorpius turned to Rose and said, "This is the best birthday I've ever had."

"What? Your birthday? I didn't know."

"Well, no one in the school does. When I was younger, my mother would make such a big deal about it… She would tell me that things would be different once I went to school; she told me that no one would be there to protect me against the wrongs of the world." Rose looked down to her shoes, she was ashamed for ever thinking that he was anything less than an honourable person. "I never thought much about it," he continued, "until I came here and I was bombarded with all these stories about my family." He let out a sharp exhale of breath, "I've hated my birthday ever since, ashamed that I didn't have any friends to share my turning of age, ashamed at the fact that my _mother_ of all people was the only one to ever show me a good time; until now…"

They had just turned the corner of one of the glass houses when one of Rose's friends came pounding towards them, the back of her robes splattered with mud from running in the damp grass, her long black hair swaying. "Rose!" Corinne Jamison exclaimed before reaching her friend.

"Hey, Cory…" Rose said, slightly embarrassed by her friend's concern for her hour's absence from their usual lunches together.

"Where were you? Marcus was so worried, you wouldn't believe it if I told you that he had his friends go looking for you. They looked through every nook and…" Corinne trailed off; she had just noticed Scorpius just standing there, his tongue in his cheek, trying to keep himself from laughing. "…Cranny…" Corinne shot Scorpius a cold smile before saying, "Rose, can I speak to you for a moment?"

"You _are_ speaking to me, Cory…" Rose laughed, with a roll of her eyes.

Corinne smiled that smile of hers once more before saying, "Rose, honey, you know what I mean…"

Rose turned her head, glancing at Scorpius, "Oh… Do you mind if we had a bit of privacy, Scorpius?"

Scorpius blinked a few times before slowly saying, "Sure. I'll just be, um, over there… hanging out with Marcus and his charming friends." He tightened his lips, walking away, giving the boys a 'what's up?' before the load of them burst into laughter and turned their back on him.

Rose lowered her head, _why are they so mean to him?_ she asked herself. "Rose, what did you think you were doing hanging out with _Scorpius Malfoy_?" Corinne spit out his name as if he was the vilest thing that ever walked the face of the planet. "You know who his father is, don't you?"

"Yes, I do, Corinne," Rose said firmly.

"Then…" Corinne started, "Did you just call me _Corinne_?" Rose shook her head and walked away from her best friend of three years, walking into the greenhouse with the rest of the students.

* * *

Scorpius was scribbling in some notes in his _Advanced Potion-Making_ book before adding in powdered Valerian Root to his Draught of Living Death potion when Rose approached him, carrying a pestle and mortar. "Scorpius," she whispered, "Meet me outside in the corridor after class. We'll make a run for it…" Scorpius turned around to answer her but she was already preparing the Valerian Root with bitter-looking Corinne. He hadn't seen her since Herbology, after which she had been whisked away with Marcus. His Potions partner, Peter Wu, shook him from his thoughts, telling him to stir whilst he went to grab a piece of wormwood from the cupboard.

The bell rang and Scorpius was held back because he had to clean up and grab a sample of his potion to the professor. Rose was standing out in the corridor with her "friends", Marcus' arm slung across her shoulders. Scorpius took a deep breath before approaching the large group, clearing his throat to make himself noticed. Marcus turned around, "Well look who it is. What are you doing here, spawn of Death Eater?" He laughed, followed by his minions.

"Marcus!" Rose exclaimed, appalled at the remark. Was this really what Scorpius had been going through for almost six years?

"Well, O'Malley, I was wondering if I could just borrow your darling Rose for a moment. She's a smart girl and I need to ask her a few questions about Arithmancy, a subject you clearly would not understand," Scorpius' smirk was met with a balling of the fists on Marcus' part.

Rose bit her lip, "Of course, Scorpius." Rose grabbed his arm and readjusted the strap of her book bag, "Excuse us."

Marcus watched the two speak in hushed tones as they walked away; it wasn't until they turned the corner at the end of the corridor when he realized what had just happened. "Aargh," he shouted in frustration, he dropped his book bag and ran down the corridor after them. He pushed his way through the crowd of students - inadvertently pushing a small first-year to the floor - determined to save Rose from the treacherous hands of Scorpius Malfoy and his Death Eater ways, his eyes focused on a bobbing curly mass of red hair just a few meters down the way. He continued running, even after the end-of-week rush of students heading to their dormitories enveloped the red hair.

"Mother of…"

"Mister O'Malley!" Marcus heard a shrill voice cry from behind him. He turned around to find his Transfiguration teacher standing behind him, a crying boy by her side. "I need to have a word with you concerning Head Boy next year…


	2. We Go Where We Know

**CHAPTER 2: We Go Where We Know**

"Shut up, Rose!" Scorpius exclaimed in a forceful but whispered tone, they were making their way down the staircase behind the tapestry, having barely escaped the wrath of a very strong and a very angry Marcus. The shortcut was his little secret as far as he could tell; years of walking about the grounds by himself had taught him how to spot the secrets hidden behind almost every suit of armour, portrait or statue. Rose was quiet for an instant but when Scorpius looked back to try to talk to her, she burst into yet another fit of giggles. "What in Merlin's name has gotten into you?"

Rose stopped, her grin stretched across her fair face, "I'm so sorry, it's just that all this is so… fun! Did you see Marcus' face? It was… entertaining to say the least."

Scorpius rolled his eyes and grabbed her arm, "Come on! I want this place to remain as secret as secret passages can be. It echoes in here you know." He led her down the stairs and out the tapestry at the bottom. They continued walking down the corridor, staying inside the crowds to avoid being found by Marcus' spies; although it wouldn't be extremely difficult to spot a bushy-haired redhead with a messy blond amongst the sea of black robes and white shirts. Scorpius took a peak at his watch and took a glimpse outside the window, he turned to Rose who was still smiling, "What do you want to do? Sun sets in three hours."

"What do you mean?" Rose said airily, a slight skip to her step suggested that she was still giddy from the escape.

"Well now that we've been able to get away from those supposed "friends" of yours, what do you want to do?"

"Wait…" Rose took a step in front of Scorpius, placing her long dainty fingers on Scorpius' vested chest. "It's your birthday." Scorpius gave Rose a strange look before rolling his eyes, gently pushing her aside. "Scorpius! Today's your birthday!" she repeated, walking slightly faster to catch up to his long strides.

Scorpius stopped and turned around, "Can you stop saying that?"

"Well, you said that today was the only birthday that you had enjoyed, in what? Six years? You deserve a treat."

"Look, I'll just do whatever you want to do…"

Rose pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow, "Meet me at the Entrance Hall steps in half an hour. Our day in the sun simply can't be done in school attire." She brushed past him and called behind her, "Half an hour, Scorpius; I'm not the most patient of nature's creatures."

He turned around and watched her disappear behind a corner at the end of the corridor. He turned and headed in the other direction, it was the first time he was able to think that day since she had let herself into his life that morning. He couldn't help but wonder why he was even talking to her, let alone spend his birthday with her. At that realisation, he wanted to kick himself for even telling her in the first place.

Why had he done that? He had liked that his birth date had been kept a secret. He did have to admit that it was nice to have someone to share it with, but her? She had never even given him the time of day before that one, and he told her that it was "_the best birthday he's ever had_"? Now that was something to be mortified about.

Scorpius loosened his tie as he called out the password to the blank stone wall in front of him, it revealed a door and he entered it. He walked through the Slytherin common room as if in a trance; when he got into his room, he swiftly removed his tie, shoes and socks but proceeded slowly for the rest of his clothing. As he pulled out a dark blue sweater and a pair of jeans from his trunk, he wondered why he was even being friendly towards her.

More thoughts of doubt and realisations of his utter stupidity followed as he put on a black woollen coat, stuffing his green Slytherin scarf in his pocket. She was perhaps the most transparent, overly bubbly person he'd ever had the displeasure of meeting; not to mention that she was best friends with the most superficial person he had ever met in his whole life. Yet, strangely enough, she was the deepest, most down-to-earth girl he had ever met. The materialistic, self-absorbed girl who he thought she was was actually the complete opposite of his impression of her.

He tried to reason with himself, to rationalise the feelings he felt. He'd been taken hostage but, strangely enough, he found himself enjoying it. As were the conditions when dealing with redheads.

He emerged from the arched doorway which led down to the Dungeon staircase and walked over to the foot of the staircase. She hadn't arrived yet. He took a glance at his watch, he was already ten minutes late from the designated meeting time and she still hadn't shown up, _So much for punctuality_. He waited for fifteen minutes, after which he was about to leave. The girl who had clearly insisted that he be on time was, in fact, ridiculously late. He too was not the most patient of nature's creatures either.

He stood up from the bottom step on which he was sitting on and was about to head back to the Slytherin dormitory when he heard a voice call from the top of the staircase, "Where do you think you're off to, Malfoy?"

He turned around to find Rose standing there, leaning against the stone banister, a picnic basket at her left arm. Her lips played a half-smile and her smouldering eyes peered at him from under her thick curly fringe. Had that scene been played in a girl's imagination; Rose would have been dressed up in a gorgeous cotton summer dress, her feet adorned with white flip-flops, her hair clipped up with a butterfly clip and Scorpius would have looked up at her with the most adoring gaze.

Unfortunately for the hopeless romantics of the world, Rose was dressed in an oversized white woollen sweater with Santa and his reindeer flying across her chest, her feet snug in a ridiculous pair of black ugg boots. Scorpius rolled his eyes, "What are you wearing?"

"Oh this?" Rose tugged at her sweater, "It was a Christmas present from my grandparents. They wanted me to get more acquainted with the muggle side to the whole Santa Clause thing…"

"It's the most absurd thing I've ever seen in my life," Scorpius said, laughing, forgetting about the anger that was coursing through his body just mere minutes ago.

Rose shrugged, "I think it's cute that children believe that there is a large fat man that lives at the North Pole and gives everyone their presents. Come on, there's only an hour left before the sun sets and then it gets really cold."

* * *

They had gotten to the Oak Tree in fifteen minutes and Scorpius waited for Rose to set a blanket onto the damp grass. The lake was frozen a frosty Alice Blue, silhouettes of the creatures in the water underneath the ice danced about the ice. Few students had braved the cold and those few had decided to go for a brisk walk about the shores of the Black Lake before returning to the castle to warm up. Scorpius and Rose were the only ones to sit down and enjoy the panoramic views of distant snow-capped mountains. Clouds hung low that day, hinting at snow later in the day.

Various winter flowers dotted the grassy green hills, along with patches of snow left over from the last snowfall that had happened just before the Christmas Break. The Oak Tree still had its leaves along with other trees of the evergreen variety, other trees had shed their leaves for the winter and all that was left were dark claws with long arms, stretched out to the heavens. Rose took a deep breath, savouring the cold air as it cleared her throat of all the impurities from inside the castle. She loved the Hogwarts castle to death but she hated the stuffy air during wintertime, air heavy with fumes from various potions, smoke from spell backfires or even the smoke rising from candles.

"Aren't you cold?" Scorpius asked from on the blanket, she was only wearing that sweater of hers, no coat. Rose was still standing, her arms wrapped around herself, her eyes closed.

"I love winter…" she sat down and opened her eyes, a warm brown which beautifully contrasted against the icy blue of her surroundings. Scorpius grabbed the basket and pulled out a thermos, he asked Rose what was in it. "Hot chocolate… Nothing better than a hot drink to help you get in the wintry mood…"

Scorpius shook his head and took a sip of the chocolate, he hadn't realised how hot it was until it made his tongue fuzzy from the heat, the warmth of the drink coursed through his body like a snake. Scorpius coughed, waking Rose from her trance. "Hey, since it's your birthday today, I got you something…" Rose said, rummaging through her jeans pocket.

"What? I only just told you today," Scorpius said, taking yet another sip from the thermos. As hot as it was, Scorpius found himself liking it.

"Yeah, well… It was pretty last minute…" Rose removed her hand from her pocket and opened it to reveal -

"Yarn? You got me yarn for my birthday?" Scorpius said on the verge of laughing. He looked down at her hands, there it was: a tangle of colourful woolly yarn.

"It's not _yarn_, silly. It's a bracelet," Rose grabbed Scorpius' fair hand, the white of his skin contrasted against the black sleeve of his jacket. "I think I'm quite talented at this whole knitting thing…" She tied the string of green, red, yellow and white yarn around his wrist.

Rose removed her hands from his and admired her work. "The colours clash," Scorpius said, a punch at the shoulder followed.

Rose laughed, "I spent a good ten minutes making that." Scorpius laughed along with her, "I made it while sitting with Marcus, all he can ever do is talk about himself. I'm sure you know what it is."

"Yes. It's a bracelet. The manliest thing to ever grace the face of this planet," Scorpius said, a half-smile playing at his lips.

Rose grabbed a sandwich from inside the basket and threw it at Scorpius, "Just eat." He slowly removed the cling wrap from the sandwich, taking a bite from the turkey sandwich. Rose took another sandwich from the basket and took a bite, "The green and silver represent you, a Slytherin, and the red and gold represent me, a Gryffindor; proclaiming to the whole world that yes, we can be friends."

"It's yellow and white," Scorpius said, his mouth full from turkey and bread.

Rose shook her head and rolled her eyes, "Look, it's the thought that counts."

"Thank you, Rosie-pie…" Scorpius leaned over and gave her a big bear hug.

Rose squealed from inside his embrace, "Crumbs!" He held her tighter, "Aagh! Get off, Malfoy!" Scorpius let her go, his back falling onto the blanket in laughter.

* * *

"That was the best birthday I've ever had Rose…" Scorpius said. They were in front of the Fat Lady's portrait, bidding their adieus for the night. Rose smiled, happy that he was happy on his special day, "Well, maybe not the best…"

"What?" Rose squealed, hitting Scorpius at his shoulder. "You just said…"

Scorpius laughed, "Yeah, you've got stiff competition. There was that one time where my mum brought me to Romania and let me pet a baby dragon…" Rose shook her head in disbelief, playing with her curly hair. "Hey, Rose?" She looked up into Scorpius' light grey eyes, "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow?"

Rose laughed and squeezed his hand, "I'd love to. You're much more fun to hang out with than Corinne and Marcus. If I have to listen to Corinne talk about another Rita Skeeter article or Marcus talk about his _washboard_ abs… I'd rather kill myself, to be honest."

Scorpius smirked, "Speaking of washboard abs…" Scorpius stretched his arms out up above his head then tugged the bottom of his sweater up.

Rose laughed and slapped his hand, covering her face, "Ugh… And I thought you were better than that, Malfoy…"

Scorpius laughed, "So I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Definitely," Rose smiled and waited for Scorpius to leave so she could get into the Gryffindor common room but he didn't. He just stood there, rummaging through his pockets. "What are you doing?"

"Giving you…" Scorpius smiled and removed his hand from his pocket, "This." Rose looked down and, in his hand, found a Snowdrop flower. Rose took it up and twirled it in her fingers, the delicate white buds swinging from side to side. She smiled, lifting it up to her nose to smell its delicate scent.

"Scorpius… You shouldn't have…"

He shook his head, "You kept going on and on about how beautiful winter is and…" he shrugged his shoulders, "I just couldn't resist. I know it's ugly isn't it? Listen, Rose, it's the thought that counts and it took me a few good minutes to make that…"

Rose lowered the flower and lifted an eyebrow, "Are you mocking me, Scorpius Malfoy?"

"Goodbye, Scorpius," Rose sang, twirling the stem of the flower between her thumb and forefinger. Scorpius waved before turning on his heels and disappeared behind the corner of the end of the corridor. Rose smiled; she'd never had a friend like him before. He was different from the crowd she usually hung out with and he wasn't afraid of being himself. She was so glad that she had chosen to make a friend with the enemy that day, glad to have been kidnapped from the world she was used to, glad that she had decided to become friends with the only person that would understood her.

"Are we in love, dear?" the Fat Lady asked from her perch on the wall, a glass of wine in her hand.

"Love? Maybe…" Rose said, smiling. The Fat Lady laughed and swung open, Rose climbed into the portrait hole, not caring about the angry Corinne on the other side of the portrait nor the fact that her father would be furious if she told him that she'd become great friends with a Malfoy. The only thing she was thinking about was the snow drifting down from the skies above and the beautiful flower held at her fingertips.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed. I didn't want them to end up just yet, nothing's ever that quick or perfect. If I find that there's a large demand for it, I will do a sequel or something to finish it off. Until then…**

**xXTomOrliXx**


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